Ring of Memory and Aliyev Center: the best of modern architecture

The competition was attended by 30 objects from 20 countries of the world, built over the past three years. Experts led by Richard Rogers, creator of the Millennium Dome in the United Kingdom and the French Pompidou Center, visited each of these structures, appreciating the skills of the architect, as well as the benefits that architectural objects bring to society. 6 buildings reached the final. Among them are the landmark buildings of such masters as Zaha Hadid and David Chipperfield, and miniature objects in the Aland Islands and at the Arctic Circle. The winner will be announced on November 24th.

The Center for Contemporary Art Arquipelago in the Azores in Portugal is recognized as the benchmark of architectural minimalism. It was opened in the city of Ribeira Grande with a population of 25 thousand people. The jury noted the careful attitude to the historical heritage and the high variability of the interiors: the museum complex united the building of the former tobacco factory, whose facades after the reconstruction were made of basalt, and the new snow-white case of the abstract form.

The author of the project of the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, in Azerbaijan, Zaha Hadid considered this building to be one of the best works of her bureau. From the alien, not like anything, the architecture of the building is really breathtaking.

In the Jumex Museum in Mexico City, built to the order of Jumex, the world’s largest private collection of contemporary Latin American art is housed. The jury noted the work with the light, as well as the quality of materials and parts – the building is trimmed with lime tuff and wood.

The Stormen complex in the Norwegian city of Bodø became the first major international project for the London-based architectural bureau DRDH. Built 100 km from the Arctic Circle, Stormen united under its roof three concert halls, a library, and a community center.

The authors of the memorial Ring of Memory, erected in French Ablen-Saint-Nazaire in memory of those killed in the First World War, chose the shape of a ring as a symbol of both eternity and fraternity. Here the names of 579,606 soldiers — all those who fought on the Western Front — are immortalized; alphabetically, regardless of citizenship, military rank or religion.

The building of the University of Technology and Design (UTEC) in the Peruvian capital Lima looks very brutal and resembles a concrete cliff with structures of beams, columns, and stairs that have been placed outside, which form a complex interweaving on the facade.